What We Aren’t Talking About When We Talk About ‘White Privilege’

We’re white feminists. We aren’t white just because our ancestors were mostly European. We are white because we regularly experience being identified as such by individuals and institutions that systematically favor those who appear white over those who don’t. We aren’t feminists just because we have degrees and teach in Gender and Women’s Studies. We are feminists because we are committed to dismantling the structures that systematically favor men over women, heterosexuals over non-heterosexuals, the rich over the poor, and, amongst many other oppressions, white people over people of color.

In order to address that oppression, we try to get people to talk frankly about race – never an easy task in a cultural paradigm that has been described as ‘colorblind racism,’ ‘race-evasive,’ and ‘racism without racists.’ Talking frankly about race doesn’t just mean pointing out hostile attitudes and narrow stereotypes based on race, though; it also means being honest about our own experiences as raced beings. It means talking about how we are embedded in racial systems, not disembodied and dispassionate viewers of them. It also means talking about how being against racism doesn’t mean that we don’t say and do racist things.

It means we need to have a conversation about white privilege.

But before we have that conversation, maybe we need to be clearer about what we talk about when we talk about white privilege—or, maybe what we really need to talk about is what we AREN’T talking about when we talk about white privilege.

What we mean is this: we’ve been doing this long enough to recognize some trends, first in our own reactions to being called out on our privilege and second, to see those reactions play out elsewhere. Therefore, we want to lay out some no-nonsense caveats that we hope can pre-empt some of these reactions, or at least make it so that we can move forward more quickly without having to keep copying and posting pieces of ‘Derailing for Dummies’ to get down to the stuff that lies beyond the defensive reactions.

So, let’s be clear. When we say that we/you have ‘white privilege’:

1. We don’t mean that we/you are intentionally acting in a bigoted way

2. We don’t mean that our/your biology is our/your destiny

3. We don’t mean that we/you aren’t oppressed in some other way

In the simplest way, recognizing one’s privilege is about recognizing that what you think, say, and do is affected by the fact that you have been and continue to be afforded certain unearned privileges on the basis of one or more parts of your identity. So, when you’re called out on your privilege, there’s one sure-fire tactic that you can use to keep the situation as productive as possible—LISTEN.

Chances are, the person isn’t trying to ‘out’ you as a racist, prove that you are stupid, or deny you your right to free speech. Chances are, the person is trying to get you to understand that there is a perspective other than your own and that your perspective is shaped by your experience and therefore cannot be expressed unilaterally or universally.

We know you didn’t ‘ask’ for privilege—but we also know that you can’t just give it up once you recognize you have it. You can’t just think really hard about it for a few hours, days, months, weeks, or even years and then one day stand up, dust yourself off, and yell ‘YES! I’m no longer privileged!’

Because of this, it’s worth acknowledging that those critical of talking about white privilege are right to say that these discussions alone aren’t going to solve the problem of white supremacy. Of course, it’s also worth acknowledging that nobody ever said they would. Rather, outing our privilege, reckoning with it, and addressing how the privileges that others experience affect us are all important elements for building the sorts of mass movements that will actually be able to challenge and overcome white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, capitalism and the numerous other forms of oppression that structure our lives.

These challenging conversations are necessary because, in the age of intensive plurality and diversity, any movement worth being part of is going to involve organizing across many forms of difference. Notice how we say ‘across’ and not ‘in spite of.’ We say that because it’s likely that most people in these movements will have at least one identity that provides systematic, unearned advantages – whiteness, maleness, heterosexuality, citizenship, able-bodiedness, etc. – and those same people will have other identities that provide systematic, unearned disadvantages. We need to recognize that the vast majority of people are both oppressed and oppressive in different ways, in different contexts, and in different moments.

Therefore, if you are on the receiving end of a question, suggestion, or rant about your white privilege, don’t get offended. Nobody’s accusing you of Klan membership, a biologically determined inability to fight injustice, or being The Man/Big Brother/Whitey/Hegemon. And nobody who’s pointing out the way privilege over-determines many of our ideas, opinions, and desires thinks that a conversation with you about privilege will end state and interpersonal violence, equalize the wealth, and get the land back into the hands of Indigenous peoples.

You’re receiving this talk about white privilege because we want to work together to rid this world of the various oppressions that make life worse for so many people. Overcoming the challenge that these forces present will require working across multiple forms of difference, and to do this we mustn’t forget that the challenges lie not in difference itself, but in the oppressions structured around difference. As Audre Lorde said so beautifully…

[…]it is not the differences between us that tear us apart, destroying the commonalities we share. Rather, it is our refusal to examine the distortions which arise form their misnaming, and from the illegitimate usage of those differences which can be made when we do not claim them nor define them for ourselves.

As feminists, we don’t want to participate in the use of oppressive force or reproduce any system that legitimates this force. As white people born in the U.S. who work at a university, we’ve benefited enormously from this very system we oppose. These contradictions will not be resolved in silence and, unless we work on recognizing and addressing them, we don’t expect for it to be easy for anyone who hasn’t shared our experiences to work with us.

We’re on a journey, a trip with a destination that we don’t expect to reach tomorrow; a journey towards understanding how experiences of privilege turn into flat tires and roadblocks on the trips we want to take away from ugly histories of oppression.

So, next time somebody invites you along for the ride, don’t wave them along—hop on.

______________________________________

Josh Cerretti works at the intersection of feminist, queer, anti-racist, anti-war, and anti-capitalist movements. He teaches Global Gender Studies at the University at Buffalo and is involved in many local organizations striving for a more just city and world.

Theresa Warburton is learning how to build solidarity across difference, making solidarity a core concern of her writing and organizing. She is also a teacher and PhD candidate in Global Gender Studies. She believes in the radical potential of the imagination in creating other possible worlds.

Yes! I was just talking about this. People take a privilege conversation and take it as a personal attack and then derail the entire conversation with something like, “Well, I know this one person that this doesn’t apply to so you’re wrong.” Why are we all so quick to deny privilege or to not believe oppression exists?

Yes! I was just talking about this. People take a privilege conversation and take it as a personal attack and then derail the entire conversation with something like, “Well, I know this one person that this doesn’t apply to so you’re wrong.” Why are we all so quick to deny privilege or to not believe oppression exists?

Yes! I was just talking about this. People take a privilege conversation and take it as a personal attack and then derail the entire conversation with something like, “Well, I know this one person that this doesn’t apply to so you’re wrong.” Why are we all so quick to deny privilege or to not believe oppression exists?

Yes! I was just talking about this. People take a privilege conversation and take it as a personal attack and then derail the entire conversation with something like, “Well, I know this one person that this doesn’t apply to so you’re wrong.” Why are we all so quick to deny privilege or to not believe oppression exists?

Guy on May 24, 2012 at 11:56 am

So this is all well and good, but whither class? Where does your discussion of ‘priviledge’ intersect with the realities of economic stratification and it’s relation to the social, cultural, and institutional advantages that you and other American white people benefit from? How can you talk about patriarchy, about racism, about anything, without including a discussion of the mode by which global capital generates or catalyzes difference and exploits it?

Guy on May 24, 2012 at 11:56 am

So this is all well and good, but whither class? Where does your discussion of ‘priviledge’ intersect with the realities of economic stratification and it’s relation to the social, cultural, and institutional advantages that you and other American white people benefit from? How can you talk about patriarchy, about racism, about anything, without including a discussion of the mode by which global capital generates or catalyzes difference and exploits it?

Guy on May 24, 2012 at 11:56 am

So this is all well and good, but whither class? Where does your discussion of ‘priviledge’ intersect with the realities of economic stratification and it’s relation to the social, cultural, and institutional advantages that you and other American white people benefit from? How can you talk about patriarchy, about racism, about anything, without including a discussion of the mode by which global capital generates or catalyzes difference and exploits it?

Guy on May 24, 2012 at 11:56 am

So this is all well and good, but whither class? Where does your discussion of ‘priviledge’ intersect with the realities of economic stratification and it’s relation to the social, cultural, and institutional advantages that you and other American white people benefit from? How can you talk about patriarchy, about racism, about anything, without including a discussion of the mode by which global capital generates or catalyzes difference and exploits it?

Ursula Ferreira on May 24, 2012 at 4:05 pm

Thanks for this amazing and clear article!

Ursula Ferreira on May 24, 2012 at 4:05 pm

Thanks for this amazing and clear article!

Ursula Ferreira on May 24, 2012 at 4:05 pm

Thanks for this amazing and clear article!

Ursula Ferreira on May 24, 2012 at 4:05 pm

Thanks for this amazing and clear article!

Uno on May 24, 2012 at 4:35 pm

Nice you guys!!! I do feel like a white privilege dialogue must be had so that we can all be on the same page when working to build South Africa.

Uno on May 24, 2012 at 4:35 pm

Nice you guys!!! I do feel like a white privilege dialogue must be had so that we can all be on the same page when working to build South Africa.

Uno on May 24, 2012 at 4:35 pm

Nice you guys!!! I do feel like a white privilege dialogue must be had so that we can all be on the same page when working to build South Africa.

Uno on May 24, 2012 at 4:35 pm

Nice you guys!!! I do feel like a white privilege dialogue must be had so that we can all be on the same page when working to build South Africa.

Line Nyhagen Predelli on May 24, 2012 at 5:06 pm

I like the notion of outing my white privilege. Black and post-colonial feminists have critiqued white middle-class feminists for being ethnocentric and racist, but has much happened regarding majority-minority relations in women’s movements since the 1980s? A new book comparing women’s movements in Norway, Spain and the UK is examining this and arguing for the need of self-reflection on white privilege and advantage (Line Nyhagen Predelli and Beatrice Halsaa (June 2012): ‘Majority-minority relations in contemporary women’s movements: Strategic Sisterhood’ (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).

Line Nyhagen Predelli on May 24, 2012 at 5:06 pm

I like the notion of outing my white privilege. Black and post-colonial feminists have critiqued white middle-class feminists for being ethnocentric and racist, but has much happened regarding majority-minority relations in women’s movements since the 1980s? A new book comparing women’s movements in Norway, Spain and the UK is examining this and arguing for the need of self-reflection on white privilege and advantage (Line Nyhagen Predelli and Beatrice Halsaa (June 2012): ‘Majority-minority relations in contemporary women’s movements: Strategic Sisterhood’ (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).

Line Nyhagen Predelli on May 24, 2012 at 5:06 pm

I like the notion of outing my white privilege. Black and post-colonial feminists have critiqued white middle-class feminists for being ethnocentric and racist, but has much happened regarding majority-minority relations in women’s movements since the 1980s? A new book comparing women’s movements in Norway, Spain and the UK is examining this and arguing for the need of self-reflection on white privilege and advantage (Line Nyhagen Predelli and Beatrice Halsaa (June 2012): ‘Majority-minority relations in contemporary women’s movements: Strategic Sisterhood’ (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).

Line Nyhagen Predelli on May 24, 2012 at 5:06 pm

I like the notion of outing my white privilege. Black and post-colonial feminists have critiqued white middle-class feminists for being ethnocentric and racist, but has much happened regarding majority-minority relations in women’s movements since the 1980s? A new book comparing women’s movements in Norway, Spain and the UK is examining this and arguing for the need of self-reflection on white privilege and advantage (Line Nyhagen Predelli and Beatrice Halsaa (June 2012): ‘Majority-minority relations in contemporary women’s movements: Strategic Sisterhood’ (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).

D.S. on May 25, 2012 at 12:03 am

I have a subset of privileges afforded to me that overlap significantly with your subset of privileges, and though some privileges may be wholly unique to me and people like me, there are also privileges wholly unique to you and people like you. As privilege is subjective, and contingent upon not only the person receiving the benefit of the privilege, but also the person perceiving the privilege and providing the benefit, it’s nearly impossible to quantify the strengths, weaknesses, significance, and power of any single privilege. Therefor, it’s equally as impossible to establish a rating system and prove, once and for all, that one subset of privileges is better or worse than any other subset of privileges.

And your point is what? If we can’t quantify privilege on some grid that meets your satisfaction that it doesn’t exist? That it’s not worth reflecting upon? Avoidance just perpetuates the current reality.

I hear you saying that there is no rating system to prove that one set of privileges is better or worse than any other and that it’s nearly impossible to quantify what certain privileges get you.

I agree with all that but I feel you’re missing the point. Playing the “privilege olympics” doesn’t solve anything. All privilege has some power that comes with it. We must learn to see that power first, recognize it exists, then use it responsibly.

Power and privilege go hand in hand. It’s not a good or bad thing, it’s just a thing. I don’t walk around all day in my white skin feeling bad that I’ve got white privilege (because there’s nothing I can do about the fact that I have it), I just recognize it and try my best not to exploit it.

D.S. on May 25, 2012 at 12:03 am

I have a subset of privileges afforded to me that overlap significantly with your subset of privileges, and though some privileges may be wholly unique to me and people like me, there are also privileges wholly unique to you and people like you. As privilege is subjective, and contingent upon not only the person receiving the benefit of the privilege, but also the person perceiving the privilege and providing the benefit, it’s nearly impossible to quantify the strengths, weaknesses, significance, and power of any single privilege. Therefor, it’s equally as impossible to establish a rating system and prove, once and for all, that one subset of privileges is better or worse than any other subset of privileges.

And your point is what? If we can’t quantify privilege on some grid that meets your satisfaction that it doesn’t exist? That it’s not worth reflecting upon? Avoidance just perpetuates the current reality.

I hear you saying that there is no rating system to prove that one set of privileges is better or worse than any other and that it’s nearly impossible to quantify what certain privileges get you.

I agree with all that but I feel you’re missing the point. Playing the “privilege olympics” doesn’t solve anything. All privilege has some power that comes with it. We must learn to see that power first, recognize it exists, then use it responsibly.

Power and privilege go hand in hand. It’s not a good or bad thing, it’s just a thing. I don’t walk around all day in my white skin feeling bad that I’ve got white privilege (because there’s nothing I can do about the fact that I have it), I just recognize it and try my best not to exploit it.

D.S. on May 25, 2012 at 12:03 am

I have a subset of privileges afforded to me that overlap significantly with your subset of privileges, and though some privileges may be wholly unique to me and people like me, there are also privileges wholly unique to you and people like you. As privilege is subjective, and contingent upon not only the person receiving the benefit of the privilege, but also the person perceiving the privilege and providing the benefit, it’s nearly impossible to quantify the strengths, weaknesses, significance, and power of any single privilege. Therefor, it’s equally as impossible to establish a rating system and prove, once and for all, that one subset of privileges is better or worse than any other subset of privileges.

And your point is what? If we can’t quantify privilege on some grid that meets your satisfaction that it doesn’t exist? That it’s not worth reflecting upon? Avoidance just perpetuates the current reality.

I hear you saying that there is no rating system to prove that one set of privileges is better or worse than any other and that it’s nearly impossible to quantify what certain privileges get you.

I agree with all that but I feel you’re missing the point. Playing the “privilege olympics” doesn’t solve anything. All privilege has some power that comes with it. We must learn to see that power first, recognize it exists, then use it responsibly.

Power and privilege go hand in hand. It’s not a good or bad thing, it’s just a thing. I don’t walk around all day in my white skin feeling bad that I’ve got white privilege (because there’s nothing I can do about the fact that I have it), I just recognize it and try my best not to exploit it.

D.S. on May 25, 2012 at 12:03 am

I have a subset of privileges afforded to me that overlap significantly with your subset of privileges, and though some privileges may be wholly unique to me and people like me, there are also privileges wholly unique to you and people like you. As privilege is subjective, and contingent upon not only the person receiving the benefit of the privilege, but also the person perceiving the privilege and providing the benefit, it’s nearly impossible to quantify the strengths, weaknesses, significance, and power of any single privilege. Therefor, it’s equally as impossible to establish a rating system and prove, once and for all, that one subset of privileges is better or worse than any other subset of privileges.

And your point is what? If we can’t quantify privilege on some grid that meets your satisfaction that it doesn’t exist? That it’s not worth reflecting upon? Avoidance just perpetuates the current reality.

I hear you saying that there is no rating system to prove that one set of privileges is better or worse than any other and that it’s nearly impossible to quantify what certain privileges get you.

I agree with all that but I feel you’re missing the point. Playing the “privilege olympics” doesn’t solve anything. All privilege has some power that comes with it. We must learn to see that power first, recognize it exists, then use it responsibly.

Power and privilege go hand in hand. It’s not a good or bad thing, it’s just a thing. I don’t walk around all day in my white skin feeling bad that I’ve got white privilege (because there’s nothing I can do about the fact that I have it), I just recognize it and try my best not to exploit it.

Bernard on May 26, 2012 at 2:05 am

I believe that we as Caucasians are privileged to have had great innovators and capitalists in the past to help our race evolve quicker. Capitalism is not necessarily wrong, in every system there is flaws and shortcomings. What is great about Capitalism is that you have goals and a big plan to become bigger and better – that is HUMAN. The one thing that needs to happen is people themselves need to share a bit more, not because they MUST, but because it is good for the soul. At the end of the day Money is the core of all evil, there wouldn’t even have to have been Capitalism if there hadn’t been money. Check out http://www.thrive.com

“What is great about Capitalism is that you have goals and a big plan to become bigger and better – that is HUMAN.” Well, if you equate “human” with “cancerous entity”, then I suppose I must agree. There is no form of Capitalism that does not result in inequity, and it would be impossible to extract the Capitalist structure from a knot of other interconnected oppressive systems: Patriarchy, racism, heterocentrism, etc. etc. Also, “…to help our race evolve quicker.” Alas, it will never do to continue to acknowledge “race” as a legitimate category if your goal is to eradicate it.

Bernard on May 26, 2012 at 2:05 am

I believe that we as Caucasians are privileged to have had great innovators and capitalists in the past to help our race evolve quicker. Capitalism is not necessarily wrong, in every system there is flaws and shortcomings. What is great about Capitalism is that you have goals and a big plan to become bigger and better – that is HUMAN. The one thing that needs to happen is people themselves need to share a bit more, not because they MUST, but because it is good for the soul. At the end of the day Money is the core of all evil, there wouldn’t even have to have been Capitalism if there hadn’t been money. Check out http://www.thrive.com

“What is great about Capitalism is that you have goals and a big plan to become bigger and better – that is HUMAN.” Well, if you equate “human” with “cancerous entity”, then I suppose I must agree. There is no form of Capitalism that does not result in inequity, and it would be impossible to extract the Capitalist structure from a knot of other interconnected oppressive systems: Patriarchy, racism, heterocentrism, etc. etc. Also, “…to help our race evolve quicker.” Alas, it will never do to continue to acknowledge “race” as a legitimate category if your goal is to eradicate it.

Bernard on May 26, 2012 at 2:05 am

I believe that we as Caucasians are privileged to have had great innovators and capitalists in the past to help our race evolve quicker. Capitalism is not necessarily wrong, in every system there is flaws and shortcomings. What is great about Capitalism is that you have goals and a big plan to become bigger and better – that is HUMAN. The one thing that needs to happen is people themselves need to share a bit more, not because they MUST, but because it is good for the soul. At the end of the day Money is the core of all evil, there wouldn’t even have to have been Capitalism if there hadn’t been money. Check out http://www.thrive.com

“What is great about Capitalism is that you have goals and a big plan to become bigger and better – that is HUMAN.” Well, if you equate “human” with “cancerous entity”, then I suppose I must agree. There is no form of Capitalism that does not result in inequity, and it would be impossible to extract the Capitalist structure from a knot of other interconnected oppressive systems: Patriarchy, racism, heterocentrism, etc. etc. Also, “…to help our race evolve quicker.” Alas, it will never do to continue to acknowledge “race” as a legitimate category if your goal is to eradicate it.

Bernard on May 26, 2012 at 2:05 am

I believe that we as Caucasians are privileged to have had great innovators and capitalists in the past to help our race evolve quicker. Capitalism is not necessarily wrong, in every system there is flaws and shortcomings. What is great about Capitalism is that you have goals and a big plan to become bigger and better – that is HUMAN. The one thing that needs to happen is people themselves need to share a bit more, not because they MUST, but because it is good for the soul. At the end of the day Money is the core of all evil, there wouldn’t even have to have been Capitalism if there hadn’t been money. Check out http://www.thrive.com

“What is great about Capitalism is that you have goals and a big plan to become bigger and better – that is HUMAN.” Well, if you equate “human” with “cancerous entity”, then I suppose I must agree. There is no form of Capitalism that does not result in inequity, and it would be impossible to extract the Capitalist structure from a knot of other interconnected oppressive systems: Patriarchy, racism, heterocentrism, etc. etc. Also, “…to help our race evolve quicker.” Alas, it will never do to continue to acknowledge “race” as a legitimate category if your goal is to eradicate it.

Dewey Armstrong on May 26, 2012 at 2:07 am

I like the conversation. In my world, it’s easily understood by everybody!
For many years I have declared my blackness to my white, black and brown friends. n.b. I appear white to everybody. Now what?

Dewey Armstrong on May 26, 2012 at 2:15 am

wow! ?

Dewey Armstrong on May 26, 2012 at 2:07 am

I like the conversation. In my world, it’s easily understood by everybody!
For many years I have declared my blackness to my white, black and brown friends. n.b. I appear white to everybody. Now what?

Dewey Armstrong on May 26, 2012 at 2:15 am

wow! ?

Dewey Armstrong on May 26, 2012 at 2:07 am

I like the conversation. In my world, it’s easily understood by everybody!
For many years I have declared my blackness to my white, black and brown friends. n.b. I appear white to everybody. Now what?

Dewey Armstrong on May 26, 2012 at 2:15 am

wow! ?

Dewey Armstrong on May 26, 2012 at 2:07 am

I like the conversation. In my world, it’s easily understood by everybody!
For many years I have declared my blackness to my white, black and brown friends. n.b. I appear white to everybody. Now what?

Dewey Armstrong on May 26, 2012 at 2:15 am

wow! ?

Dewey Armstrong on May 26, 2012 at 2:25 am

Politics, unlike relationships, are pretty simple.
Occupy peacefully and figure it out! I’m not kidding; we need to get ours back fron Wall Steet, big time!

Dewey Armstrong on May 26, 2012 at 2:25 am

Politics, unlike relationships, are pretty simple.
Occupy peacefully and figure it out! I’m not kidding; we need to get ours back fron Wall Steet, big time!

Dewey Armstrong on May 26, 2012 at 2:25 am

Politics, unlike relationships, are pretty simple.
Occupy peacefully and figure it out! I’m not kidding; we need to get ours back fron Wall Steet, big time!

Dewey Armstrong on May 26, 2012 at 2:25 am

Politics, unlike relationships, are pretty simple.
Occupy peacefully and figure it out! I’m not kidding; we need to get ours back fron Wall Steet, big time!

Fighting racism whilst simultaneously, mostly (though not always) unintentionally benefiting from white privilege, I can wrap my mind around. But fighting Capitalism while voluntarily participating in the production/consumption that is its core– how to do?

Fighting racism whilst simultaneously, mostly (though not always) unintentionally benefiting from white privilege, I can wrap my mind around. But fighting Capitalism while voluntarily participating in the production/consumption that is its core– how to do?

Fighting racism whilst simultaneously, mostly (though not always) unintentionally benefiting from white privilege, I can wrap my mind around. But fighting Capitalism while voluntarily participating in the production/consumption that is its core– how to do?

Fighting racism whilst simultaneously, mostly (though not always) unintentionally benefiting from white privilege, I can wrap my mind around. But fighting Capitalism while voluntarily participating in the production/consumption that is its core– how to do?

Mike Fraser on May 29, 2012 at 3:59 pm

The concept of race based on skin colour is something that is man-made for the sole purpose of social engineering in the power relations created by people to hold power over fellow human beings. There is only one race, and that is the human race.
“White people” have over the years somehow been allowed to appropriate for themselves the position of chosen ones. In the process they accepted this privileged position, and have continued to occupy this position of privilege at the expense of fellow human beings.
The hypocrisy that whites never supported the policy of apartheid that disadvantaged the majority of South Africans proves that there is very little or no acknowledgement, for the privilege that apartheid afforded white people, and the huge generational disadvantage that it has brought upon fellow human beings that were classified “non-white”, and therefore not worthy of the same status as white skinned people.

Mike Fraser on May 29, 2012 at 3:59 pm

The concept of race based on skin colour is something that is man-made for the sole purpose of social engineering in the power relations created by people to hold power over fellow human beings. There is only one race, and that is the human race.
“White people” have over the years somehow been allowed to appropriate for themselves the position of chosen ones. In the process they accepted this privileged position, and have continued to occupy this position of privilege at the expense of fellow human beings.
The hypocrisy that whites never supported the policy of apartheid that disadvantaged the majority of South Africans proves that there is very little or no acknowledgement, for the privilege that apartheid afforded white people, and the huge generational disadvantage that it has brought upon fellow human beings that were classified “non-white”, and therefore not worthy of the same status as white skinned people.

Mike Fraser on May 29, 2012 at 3:59 pm

The concept of race based on skin colour is something that is man-made for the sole purpose of social engineering in the power relations created by people to hold power over fellow human beings. There is only one race, and that is the human race.
“White people” have over the years somehow been allowed to appropriate for themselves the position of chosen ones. In the process they accepted this privileged position, and have continued to occupy this position of privilege at the expense of fellow human beings.
The hypocrisy that whites never supported the policy of apartheid that disadvantaged the majority of South Africans proves that there is very little or no acknowledgement, for the privilege that apartheid afforded white people, and the huge generational disadvantage that it has brought upon fellow human beings that were classified “non-white”, and therefore not worthy of the same status as white skinned people.

Mike Fraser on May 29, 2012 at 3:59 pm

The concept of race based on skin colour is something that is man-made for the sole purpose of social engineering in the power relations created by people to hold power over fellow human beings. There is only one race, and that is the human race.
“White people” have over the years somehow been allowed to appropriate for themselves the position of chosen ones. In the process they accepted this privileged position, and have continued to occupy this position of privilege at the expense of fellow human beings.
The hypocrisy that whites never supported the policy of apartheid that disadvantaged the majority of South Africans proves that there is very little or no acknowledgement, for the privilege that apartheid afforded white people, and the huge generational disadvantage that it has brought upon fellow human beings that were classified “non-white”, and therefore not worthy of the same status as white skinned people.

Thanks for all of this. This is a complex question that s often gets shut down because of our inability to really talk about it and all the defensiveness and aggression that tends to come with it. As hard as it might be, if we commit to keeping the conversation going, and do our best to assume good intention, on all parts, there might be some chance that future generations are not having this same conversations in this same way.

Thanks for all of this. This is a complex question that s often gets shut down because of our inability to really talk about it and all the defensiveness and aggression that tends to come with it. As hard as it might be, if we commit to keeping the conversation going, and do our best to assume good intention, on all parts, there might be some chance that future generations are not having this same conversations in this same way.

Thanks for all of this. This is a complex question that s often gets shut down because of our inability to really talk about it and all the defensiveness and aggression that tends to come with it. As hard as it might be, if we commit to keeping the conversation going, and do our best to assume good intention, on all parts, there might be some chance that future generations are not having this same conversations in this same way.

Thanks for all of this. This is a complex question that s often gets shut down because of our inability to really talk about it and all the defensiveness and aggression that tends to come with it. As hard as it might be, if we commit to keeping the conversation going, and do our best to assume good intention, on all parts, there might be some chance that future generations are not having this same conversations in this same way.